Star India batter Shafi Verma claimed a hattrick on Monday for Haryana against Karnataka in the ongoing Women’s U-23 One-Day International Trophy being held at Fulwung in North Guwahati. The teams’ match was a pre-quarterfinal contest.
Off the last two balls of the 44th over, Shafali (30) and wicketkeeper-batter Soumya Verma (0 off 1) were off-spin part-temp bowlers.
Shafali came back in the 46th over to finish a remarkable hat-trick by cleaning up Namita D’Souza’s first-ball stumps.
Playing a match-winning part for her team in the local league, Shafali finished the match with scores of 4-0-20-3.
Shafali’s hustle aided Haryana to bowl away Karnataka by six wickets and advance to the quarterfinals.
Just two days after Shafali’s WPL team, the Delhi Capitals, lost their third successive championship, she reached this milestone.
Famous for her aggressive batting approach, Shafali was dropped from the Indian team following the T20 World Cup in the UAE in 2024.
Since then, Shafali has been steadily amassing runs in domestic cricket as she seeks a national team return.
Behind foreign stars Nat Sciver-Brunt, Ellyse Perry, and Hayley Matthews, Shafali ended the Women’s Premier League as the fourth-best run scorer.
Shafalii captured the toss in the game and sent Karnataka to hit first. Allrounder Kareena Jangra got Roshni Kiran out for 17 runs in the last over of the powerplay.
Before Lavanya Chalana was fired by Triveni Vasistha in the 20th over, she and GR Prerana next scored 44 runs for the second wicket.
Before Mithila Vinod and Saloni put 94 runs on the fifth wicket, Karnataka were down 94 runs to 28 over. In the 46th over, Shafali followed by three wickets brought Karnataka down to 198/7.
By the time Shafali shone in Haryana’s bowling innings, the opposition were finally bowled out for 217.
Haryana slipped 32/2 in the seventh over during the chase. Before she was stopped by Saloni in the 15th over, Deeya Yadav and Soniya Mendhiya afterward scored 39 runs for the third wicket.
Tanisha Ohlan and Mendhiya next smashed 92 runs for the fourth wicket before Saloni also removed the first one in the 32nd over. Ohlan and Vasistha next posted a 56-run fifth-wicket partnership to drive Haryana across the line.
